Blog: Nightwatcher's House Of Rock

It is with great sadness that we report that former Deep Purple keyboard legend Jon Lord has passed away. He was 71. A statement on Lord's official website says the Leicester, England-born musician suffered a fatal pulmonary embolism in London on Monday after a long battle with pancreatic cancer. Lord, considered one of the finest to ever play the instrument, was a founding member of Deep Purple, continuing to record and perform with the band until his retirement in 2002. It was Lord's pioneering fusion of classical influences with [...]

New Mexico may rightfully be known as "The Land Of Enchantment" for its abundance of sunshine, mild weather, vivid blue skies and spectacular scenery, but one thing it is not known for is blues rock guitar heroes. Certainly there are exceptional regional musicians in the genre, such as Santa Fe's Alex Maryol and Albuquerque's Todd Tijerina, and have been for years, but none have truly been able to break through in an international way. That situation however has begun to change with the emergence of native son Ryan McGarvey. Born in Albuquerque in 1986, it's safe to [...]

A varied selection of rock and blues legends and up and comers have come together for an upcoming tribute album to blues revivalists The Black Keys. Scheduled for release July 3, 2012 via Cleopatra Records, 'Black On Blues : A Tribute To The Black Keys', the collection features performances by Iggy Pop & Ginger Baker(Cream), Leslie West (Mountain), Dave Davies (The Kinks) & Huw Lloyd Langton (Hawkwind), Albert Lee and Pat Travers alongside blues guitar slingers Walter Trout, Larry McCray, Tab Benoit, Mike Zito, Oli Brown, Devon Allman and more. The [...]

Official Charts Company is reporting that according to today’s Official Albums Chart Update, blues rock guitar hero Joe Bonamassa is on track to upset the Official Albums Chart applecart by scoring his first UK chart topper, leading an almighty invasion of rock entries on today’s Official Chart Update. Internationally acclaimed blues star Bonamassa looks set to knock reigning chart chaps Keane off Number 1 with his new release, Driving Towards The Daylight. The Kevin Shirley (Led Zeppelin, Black Crowes, Iron Maiden) produced album features Aerosmith guitarist Brad Whitford, Beach Boys collaborator Blondie Chaplin, ex-Meatloaf guitarist [...]

Award winning author and journalist Alan Paul, Senior Writer at Guitar World Magazine has just released a brand new digital Ebook chronicling the history of Southern Rock legends The Allman Brothers. Entitled 'One Way Out : An Oral History Of The Allman Brothers Band', the book is culled from hundreds of hours of interviews, all conducted by Paul, detailing the career of the Rock and Roll Hall of Famers from past to present. The book includes many never-before-published interviews with band members Gregg Allman, Dickey Betts, Jaimoe, Butch Trucks, Warren Haynes, Derek Trucks, Oteil [...]

Music legend and original YES vocalist and songwriter Jon Anderson will be playing select concert dates this summer in support of his critically acclaimed new digital download release ‘OPEN’. Jon Anderson, who has one of the most recognizable voices in music, and is best known for his work with YES, Vangelis and Kitaro, as well as his innovative solo efforts, recently completed several successful tours of the US and South America. The new summer tour promises to deliver an exciting mixture of material from Jon Anderson’s prolific solo career, collaborations with Vangelis and classic YES songs, along [...]

Blues rock guitar titan Joe Bonamassa will be performing this Monday, May 21st on the David Letterman Show as a featured guest artist with Paul Shaffer and the CBS Orchestra. This appearance comes the day before the release of his new album ' Driving Towards The Daylight' out via J&R Adventures May 22nd in North America. Bonamassa said, "I am a huge Letterman fan since I was 6 years old and I can't wait to sit in with Paul Shaffer and his band". Check your local listings for times. [...]

Planet Rock is reporting Paul Rodgers says that the band contemplated reforming later this year. In a new interview with Classic Rock Magazine Paul Rodgers reveals that Free came close to reforming for a special one-off show this year. Rodgers says: "There was talk of possibly something connected with the Olympics, but I don’t see it coming together now. "One of the things that is difficult in my mind is that Paul was the soul of the band in many respects, and I hesitate to mess with that. "If I [...]

American Blues News is reporting the tragic news that Michael “Iron Man” Burks, the celebrated Arkansas blues master whose attacking style was one of the most powerful in the industry, has passed. It was reported that Burks collapsed in the Atlanta airport on his way back from Italy. He was 54 years old. Bruce Iglauer, owner of Alligator Records, just released the following statement: “Michael ‘Iron Man’ Burks, the great blues guitarist and singer, has died suddenly. He was returning from a successful tour of Europe and collapsed in customs at the Atlanta airport. He [...]

American Blues News is reporting the stragic news that Michael “Iron Man” Burks, the celebrated Arkansas blues master who’s attacking style was one of the most powerful in the industry, has passed. It was reported that Burks collapsed in the Atlanta airport on his way back from Italy. He was 54 years old. Bruce Iglauer, owner of Alligator Records, just released the following statement: “Michael ‘Iron Man’ Burks, the great blues guitarist and singer, has died suddenly. He was returning from a successful tour of Europe and collapsed in customs at the Atlanta airport. He was [...]

Henne Music is reporting that Deep Purple guitarist Steve Morse has confirmed some of the plans for a new album by the rock legends. “In a couple of weeks,” Morse tells Glide magazine, “Deep Purple has a writing session and we’re producing an album with Bob Ezrin, who’s done KISS, Pink Floyd, Peter Gabriel, Alice Cooper, and he also worked on the last Kansas album, when I was with Kansas. So he’s one of my favorite producers and that’s going to be our studio album. It’s probably going to be more of an extravaganza.” [...]

Black Sabbath will play an intimate homecoming show at O2 Academy in Birmingham on Saturday, May 19 as a warm-up for their headlining set at this year’s Download Festival. The band also plans to play at this year’s Lollapalooza festival, which runs from August 3 to 5 at Grant Park in downtown Chicago. Sabbath have not yet confirmed whether original drummer Bill Ward will be part of the reunion, but Ozzy, guitarist Tony Iommi and bass player Geezer Butler have been working on a new album in London. The album will be their first full-length recording together in [...]

Blues Rock guitar titan Joe Bonamassa has released the first video from his upcoming 13th album in the form of the title track, 'Driving Towards The Daylight'. The album, set for world-wide release through J&R Adventures May 21st in Europe and May 22 in North America, also features performances from Aerosmith guitarist Brad Whitford and his son Harrison, Blondie Chaplin (guitar), Anton Fig (drums and percussion), Arlan Schierbaum (keyboard), Michael Rhodes (bass), Carmine Rojas (bass), Jeff Bova and The Bovaland Brass, Pat Thrall (guitar) and Aussie rock vocal legend Jimmy Barnes (Cold Chisel). Driving [...]

Ryan McGarvey Redefined Forward In Reverse Music Review by Keith Langerman for Nightwatcher's House Of Rock © 2012 "I met Ryan in 2006 and was very impressed at the depth of his influence and his ability to put said influences together in his own way.. To watch him grow as a artist and to hear his name mentioned to me as much as it has is a testament to his hard work and skill."~ Joe Bonamassa Some may question the wisdom and [...]

On April 14th, 2012 in Cleveland, Ohio for the induction of the late, great blues guitarist Freddie King into the Rock and Roll Hall Of Fame, ZZ Top members Billy Gibbons and Dusty Hill were joined onstage by guitarists Derek Trucks and Joe Bonamassa for a jam which included King's classics "Goin' Down" and the instrumental "Hideaway". King, who passed away at the age of 42 in December 1976, had a twenty-year recording career and became established as an influential guitarist with hits for Federal Records in the early 1960s. He has [...]

The second annual Ritchie Blackmore Protégé Shred Off competition winner has been announced. This years’ winner goes to Matteo Bizzarri from Ferrara, Italy for his piece entitled 'Blackmoresque Medley' which can be seen below. Bizzarri created his under three-minute composition as “a medley of several different songs from my band (VOODOO HIGHWAY).” Jim Manngard, Ritchie Blackmore’s long-time guitar technician, sound tech, and personal assistant since 1985, led the decision by three-judge panel in declaring this years’ winner. Along with Manngard, rounding out the three-judge panel was second-year judge Andy DiGelsomina, the composer-guitarist for the Wagnerian opera [...]

On May 22, 2012, internationally renowned blues rock guitar titan Joe Bonamassa will release a brand new solo album Driving Towards The Daylight via J&R Adventures. His 13th album was produced by Kevin “Caveman” Shirley (Black Crowes, Aerosmith, Led Zeppelin). This is their seventh collaboration in six years. Recorded at Studio At The Palms in Las Vegas, NV, The Village Recorder in Los Angeles, CA and The Cave in Malibu, CA, Driving Towards The Daylight is a balanced back-to-basics album that highlights Bonamassa’s signature style of roots blues with rock-and-roll guts, while honoring the traditions of the [...]

According to Billboard.com , Jay Bulger's documentary on legendary Cream/Blind Faith drummer Ginger Baker called Beware Of Mr. Baker won the Documentary Grand Jury prize Tuesday night (March 13) at the South by Southwest film awards, but where it might screen next is under wraps. "We have been accepted to a bunch of festivals, but they have told us not to tell anyone," Fisher Stevens, one of three producers on the film, said on Sunday, the day after Saturday's world premiere screening. The film will screen one last time in in Austin, on March 16 [...]

The second annual Ritchie Blackmore Protégé Shred Off competition has been announced. Video entries will be accepted from March 20th at 12:01AM through April 7th, at 11:59PM. Each entry must feature the guitarist playing a Blackmore-esque lead guitar arrangement over a backing that is similarly in a Deep Purple, Rainbow, and/or Blackmore's Night vein way. No actual covers of Blackmore's lead guitar solos or songs will be allowed into the competition. Andy DiGelsomina, the composer-guitarist for the Wagnerian opera metal project Lyraka will be judging the competition again, along with Keith Langerman, the [...]

Legendary American rock guitarist Ronnie Montrose died yesterday(Saturday, March 3) after a five-year battle with prostate cancer. He was 64 years old. Montrose's official web site has been updated with the following message: "A few months ago, we held a surprise party for Ronnie Montrose's 64th birthday. He gave an impromptu speech, and told us that after a long life, filled with joy and hardship, he didn't take any of our love for granted. "He passed today. He'd battled cancer, and staved off old age for long enough. And true to [...]